Tuesday, 1 April 2014

Lisbon – The second time around

Oh, Lisbon you are so
beautiful! Out of all the ports I’ve been too, I’m not sure if
your my favourite, but your definitely a grade A fitty. Straight off
the boat and right into the rambling hills and back-streets.

This time I went much
deeper in and found just beauty on beauty. My favourite part was the
trams – now only reserved for museums in the UK, Lisbon's trams are
the antique 8-speed kind, still rattling through the streets
functionally and practically. I loved watching the wheels on rods
that skim along the wires, sparking and providing power to the
motors. When the trams turn around, the conductor pulls it down with
a rope and manually drags it around until it face the opposite
direction. I love it.

I bought a few things
in Lisbon, for fifty cents I bought a 1950's pulp fiction story book
– by which I mean it's a cheap throwaway thing with beautiful 50's
illustrations, and all in Portuguese, which I found fascinating.

The next thing I found
was a sort of retro-vintage shop, run by the coolest looking guy
ever. This gave birth to my first international vinyl scoop. Only the
PATTI SMITH GROUP!!!! Radio Ethiopia. I can't wait to get this on my
turntable.

I then bought a
postcard made of cork. In a stroke of luck on my way back I deviated
to kill some time, and found a street market selling everything –
including guitars! I bought a cheap one for Joe, our entertainments
manager, as he'd asked me to keep an eye out.

I wont even try to
describe how wonderful Lisbon is. Around every corner is another bit,
but it's built so high, you can't tell where you are, or how long it
goes on for. All I know is that I could spend days there.

Sets were really good
today! A lovely guy tipped me for playing Moonlight Sonata which gave
me a lot of confidence with my piano.